The PC-BSD® User Manager utility, seen in Figure 8.9a, allows you to easily add and delete users and groups, as well as change a user's or the root user's password. To access this utility, go to ''[[Control Panel]]'' ➜ ''[[User Manager]]'' or type '''pc-su pc-usermanager.''' You will need to input your password in order to access this utility.

If you click the "Remove" button for a highlighted user, a pop-up menu will ask if you would like to also delete the user's home directory (along with all of their files). If you click "No", the user will still be deleted but their home directory will remain. If you have only created one user account, the "Remove" button will be greyed out as you need at least one user to be able to login to the PC-BSD® system.

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=== Benuzterkontoverwaltung ===

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{{note|width=48.5%|icon64=while a removed user will no longer be listed, the user account will not actually be deleted until you click the "Apply" button. A pop-up message will indicate that you have pending changes if you close User Manager without clicking "Apply". If you change your mind, click "No" and the user account will not be deleted; otherwise, click "Yes" and the user will be deleted and User Manager will close.}}

The password for any user can be changed by first highlighting the user name then clicking the "Change Password" button. You will not be prompted for the old password in order to reset a user's password; this can be handy if a user has forgotten their password and can no longer log into the PC-BSD® system. If you click the "Change Admin Password" button, you can change the root password.

{{note|icon64=While a removed user will no longer be listed, the user account will not actually be deleted until you click the "Apply" button. A pop-up message will indicate that you have pending changes if you close User Manager without clicking "Apply". If you change your mind, click "No" and the user account will not be deleted; otherwise, click "Yes" and the user will be deleted and User Manager will close.}}

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The password for any user can be changed by first highlighting the user name then clicking the "Change Password" button. You will not be prompted for the old password in order to reset a user's password; this can be handy if a user has forgotten their password and can no longer log into the PC-BSD® system. If you click the "Change Admin Password" button, you can change the root user's password.

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{{danger|icon64=''' ''Do not change the user's password if you checked the “Encrypt user files” box in either the Create a User screen or by clicking the “Add” button within User Manager.'' ''' The password is associated with the user's encryption key, meaning that the contents of the user's home directory will become permanently inaccessible if the password is changed. A future version of PC-BSD® will add a utility to make it easy to change the password for a user with an encrypted home directory.}}

If you click the "Advanced View" button, this screen will change to show all of the accounts on the system, not just the user accounts that you created. An example is seen in Figure 8.9b.

If you click the "Advanced View" button, this screen will change to show all of the accounts on the system, not just the user accounts that you created. An example is seen in Figure 8.9b.

This screen is used to input the following information when adding a new user or system account:

This screen is used to input the following information when adding a new user or system account:

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'''Username:''' the name the user will use when they log in to the system; it is case sensitive and can not contain any spaces. If you are creating a system account needed by an application, use the name provided by the application's installation instructions. If the name that you choose already exists as an account, it will be highlighted in red and the utility will prompt you to use another name.

'''Full Name:''' this field provides a description of the account and can contain spaces. If it is a user account, use the person's first and last name. If it is a system account, input a description to remind you which application uses the account.

'''Home Directory:''' you can leave this field empty for a user account as the system will automatically create a home directory under ''/home/username''. However, if you are creating a system account it is important to override this default by typing in ''/var/empty'' or ''/nonexistent'' unless the application's installation instructions specify that the account needs a specific home directory.

'''Primary Group:''' if you leave the default button of "New Group" selected, a group will be created with the same name as the user. This is usually what you want unless you are creating a system account and the installation instructions specify a different group name. Note that the drop-down menu for specifying a group name will only show existing groups, but you can quickly create a group using the "Groups" tab.

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'''Encrypt Files:''' if this box is selected, the user's home directory will automatically be encrypted with {{citelink|fbsd|url=PEFS|txt=PEFS}}. When the user logs in, the contents of their home directory are automatically decrypted after they enter their password. When they logout, the contents of their home directory are automatically encrypted and will appear as gibberish to other users who do not know the password. For this reason, it is important to select a good password that the user will not forget. At this time, there is no easy mechanism for changing the user's password if their home directory is encrypted. A future version of PC-BSD® will add a utility to allow the user to manage their password and encryption key.

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'''Password:''' the password is case-sensitive and needs to be confirmed.

While a removed user will no longer be listed, the user account will not actually be deleted until you click the "Apply" button. A pop-up message will indicate that you have pending changes if you close User Manager without clicking "Apply". If you change your mind, click "No" and the user account will not be deleted; otherwise, click "Yes" and the user will be deleted and User Manager will close.

The password for any user can be changed by first highlighting the user name then clicking the "Change Password" button. You will not be prompted for the old password in order to reset a user's password; this can be handy if a user has forgotten their password and can no longer log into the PC-BSD® system. If you click the "Change Admin Password" button, you can change the root user's password.

Do not change the user's password if you checked the “Encrypt user files” box in either the Create a User screen or by clicking the “Add” button within User Manager. The password is associated with the user's encryption key, meaning that the contents of the user's home directory will become permanently inaccessible if the password is changed. A future version of PC-BSD® will add a utility to make it easy to change the password for a user with an encrypted home directory.

If you click the "Advanced View" button, this screen will change to show all of the accounts on the system, not just the user accounts that you created. An example is seen in Figure 8.9b.

Figure 8.9b: Viewing All Accounts and Their Details

The accounts that you did not create are known as system accounts and are needed by the operating system or installed applications. You should not delete any accounts that you did not create yourself as doing so may cause a previously working application to stop working. "Advanced View" provides additional information associated with each account, such as the user ID number, full name (description), home directory, default shell, and primary group. System accounts usually have a shell of nologin for security reasons, meaning that an attacker cannot try to login to the system using that account name.

Encrypt Files: if this box is selected, the user's home directory will automatically be encrypted with PEFS[1]. When the user logs in, the contents of their home directory are automatically decrypted after they enter their password. When they logout, the contents of their home directory are automatically encrypted and will appear as gibberish to other users who do not know the password. For this reason, it is important to select a good password that the user will not forget. At this time, there is no easy mechanism for changing the user's password if their home directory is encrypted. A future version of PC-BSD® will add a utility to allow the user to manage their password and encryption key.

To add an account to a group, highlight the group name in the first column. Then, highlight the account name in the "Available" column. Click the right arrow and the selected account will appear in the "Members" column. You should only add user accounts to groups that you create yourself or when an application's installation instructions indicate that an account needs to be added to a group.

If you click the "Add" button, a pop-up menu will prompt you for the name of the new group. Once you press "OK", the group will be added to the "Groups" column.

If you click the "Remove" button, the highlighted group will automatically be deleted after you press the "Apply" button, so be sure to do this with care. Again, do not remove any groups that you did not create yourself or applications that used to work may stop working.